I have to stop ending my 4 mile runs at 10:30 P.M.! It's now 2:17,& my kiddos will be up & ready to play in 5-6 hours. And then we do it all over again because I don't get done with swim lessons until 6:45, and I need to get some cardio in after. I've been doing this 5 hour sleep thing for over a year now. Dr Travis Stork says that is the cause to my belly fat-- not my bag of popcorn at midnight. ;) I need an outdoor pool. I need some quiet time. I need the sun. Ah, I just need a weekend break! Soon and very soon, I hope. . .

Derby Festival Mini-Marathon!

I finished 13.1 miles!

The mini marathon is over, and I'm still alive. I went to bed late the night before ( screaming child), and woke up just about every hour the entire night. I was so anxious to get out there and just get it over with. I woke up around 6ish, ate an orange, got dressed, and headed out with Amanda and my Dad. He dropped us off close to the start line, and I had a terrible stomach ache, and headed straight to the porto- potties ( sorry if it's TMI). The lines were SOOOO long, we stood there for at least 15 minutes, and left because it was 7:15, and we wanted to head to the starting line.I was SO nervous to start the race all by myself, but was mentally ready for it! I didn't let any of the " what am I doing?!?!" or " I CAN'T DO THIS!" thoughts into my head at all, and knew I had to finish! The only bad thought I had was "OMG, when will I be able to stop and use the bathroom?!?!"

The first mile was spent dodging walkers. How they got into corral B & C, I have no clue! My pace was right at 10 minutes the first 2-3 miles. I hadn't trained on ANY hills, so mile 2-4 being in the park with hills slowed me down a little bit. I love the FCA posters with bible verses on all of them up until their power aid station! They made me smile. I also loved that most of the water stops had mini water bottles, so I carried them almost until the next stop, and drank all along the way. Once we got out of the park, the drizzle had turned into a little harder rain. I saw some potties right outside the park, debated stopping, THEN saw like 15 people in line. I didn't wanna add THAT much time on, so I kept going. I saw some people along Southern Parkway that we knew, and said a little "hi" as I ran past. Then around mile 6, the sun came out, and the drizzle stopped! I was already 8 minutes behind my pace at that point, but wanted to try to get my pace back up, and only finish 8 minutes later than I wanted.I kept looking for another potty, and the only other one had a massive line too. I had NO clue how I was going to finish like this haha. FINALLY once in the infield at Churchill Downs, the bathrooms were open!!!! It added a few minutes onto my time, but I had to stop =(. Once I got out of Churchill Downs, I kept waiting to see my baby boy and parents.....but I never found them where they said they'd be. Turns out they had a flat tire ( my dad ran over something when he dropped us off). Once I got to 8 miles, I knew that's that farthest I had run, and that was my 'goal'. I did NOT want to walk as much as I did, but I did the best I could. The last 2 miles were MISERABLE! I thought FOR SURE I had missed the 12 mile marker, and there was NO way that mile was THAT Long. haha AND THE HILL at the end was killer! Some guy was like " WWWHHHYYYY DDDIIIIDD THEY PUT A HILL RRIIIGGGHHHTT HHERRREEE???", and it gave us all a good laugh at the end. There were so many turns, and when I thought we were almost done, we went up another block and turned again.The worst part was--seeing a ton of people already walking back to their cars with their medals! FINALLY, I saw a mile 26 marker for the full, and knew .2 left, and I need to kick it up to finish. Well, I turned the corner, saw the finish, and took off. THEN I got like 20 steps away from the finish and thought I would die. haha Seriously, I finished 20 minutes later than I wanted to , and am embarrassed of my time, compared to others that I know who ran it. THEN I think, I've always hated running, and I have ALWAYS been slow! With taking a few minutes off for my bathroom break, and calf stretching a few during the last 4 miles, I finished right around 2 1/2 hours. At least that's a starting point! And the next time I run one, I will have a time to beat. I'll try to get at least 1 or 2 more weeks of training in, so my body doesn't die at mile 10. I will also run with someone hopefully. I think it would make a world of difference running with someone, and also having people cheer along the way for me. MAYBE I can get Luke to do one with me! ! !Let me know if there's any good half-marathons coming up! In the meantime, I'm hoping to be running some 5ks with some friends. The best part of the day was after I was over the stomach sickness, and Amanda was done throwing up ( I think we ate bad food!) I ordered some Papa John's thin crust!!!! YUUMMY! After burning like 1500 calroies, who cares what you eat!

Amanda after finishing.

Easter Egg hunt

Landon had his firt Easter Egg Hunt today! They had an AWESOME set up at church today, thank you all SO much! Everyting you can imagine was there--and yummy hot dogs too! We didn't get there in time to do much in the gym besides get his face painted and eat. Then it was time for the hunts. The kids were seperated in different areas outside of the church/TNU by age. He did so good picking them up, and he finally got the hang of putting them into his basket. He was just walking around with a plastic egg in each hand. Maybe he'll be good now with his cousin Elyssa tomorrow. We're going to dye some tonight--I'm so excited! We bought the regular dudley's dye, and then some gold/silver leafing type box too.I've got 3 dozen boiled,and 1 dozen left to boil. We need some for deviled eggs too! MMMMm Ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, green beans, hawaiin rolls, pasta salad= YUMMY! I'm so ready for tomorrow, it's better than ChRiStMaS! I hope Landon can grow up thinking that way too. I'll post a few pictures from this morning, then it's on the clean before the family arrives.

Half marathon news~I am up to 6 miles now. I had to get it in before the day began, so I ran on the treadmill at the Y. I hope to do 8 next weekend, 10 the next ( at the beach), then the race is the next weekend!My goal is STILL to run 8 miles....but deep inside I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to run all 13.1, with a few SHORT walks when I need to. BUT, my goal is to run 8, and more importantly TO FINISH!!!!

To finish is to win!

I officially signed up last week for the Derby Mini Marathon! I only have 39 days now left to train, so I won't be worrying about my time at all this time around. I will only be pushing to run 8 miles, and if I have to walk the rest, I'll be OK with it. I'm hoping since I know the course so well (not from running it, but driving it so much growing up) it'll be easier for me to just keep running! I just need to get past the two hills in the first 2 miles. If you want to come cheer me on, check out this page for suggestions.


I think maybe also you could park at my grandpa's shop and walk over to 4th street. I read somewhere that there are texts you can receive on updates to where your runner is at. For those not familiar with the race/course,here it is.

You can also look at the route here.


On another note, Landon had his 15 month check-up last week. He is 20 1/2 pounds, almost 31 inches tall, and I forget what his head is! His weight is back above his curve ( which is 3%, and he is now 5th I think), his height is still 31%--like it was at 12 months, and his head is like 15%. His Dr. said he seems to be very verbally advanced, that makes me happy. I had been worried a few months ago that he wasn't talking like other kids his age. Of course, it was after he was around a girl his age, and everyone knows girls do things sooner. He said the fact that he can say 'eye' and point to an eye is great. Landon has been LOVING swimming lessons.He goes underwater perfectly, he is trying to float on his back, can hold onto the edge of the pool by himself and climb out, and can jump in from the side holding onto my hands. Luke doesn't have to work tomorrow morning, so he is going to take a few pictures for me. I'll try to post them tomorrow!